Smoking ban goes into effect

An executive order signed by President Clinton last summer that bans smoking in all federal executive branch facilities went into effect Wednesday.

"It is the policy of the executive branch to establish a smoke-free environment for federal employees and members of the public visiting or using facilities," according to a July 1 General Services Administration announcement in the Federal Register. "The smoking of tobacco products is prohibited in all interior space owned, rented, or leased by the executive branch and in any outdoor areas under executive branch control in front of air ducts."

Clinton signed the executive order that set the rule in motion last August to protect federal employees from the health risks of "environmental tobacco smoke." The new rule will affect about 8,000 federal buildings nationwide.

Agencies, however, are allowed to have indoor designated smoking areas that are "enclosed and exhausted directly to the outside and away from air intake ducts."

Although drafts of the executive order proposed forcing smokers to stay at least 50 feet away from the entrances of buildings, under the new rule, agency heads are simply instructed to evaluate the need to limit smoking at doorways and in courtyards. Agency heads are also permitted to establish "limited and narrow exceptions" as needed to accomplish agency missions, but nothing in the rule precludes an agency from establishing more stringent smoking guidelines.

Agency heads are responsible for monitoring and controlling smoking areas and for ensuring the areas are identified by proper signs. Each agency must place signs reading "No Smoking Except in Designated Areas" on or near entrance doors.

The smoking rule does not apply to the legislative branch and only applies to the judicial branch when it occupies space in buildings controlled by the executive branch.